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Call It a Tragedy
Call It a Tragedy is an American pop punk band from Orlando, Florida. Active since 1999, the band experienced a slow, steady increase in popularity with first two albums Call It What You Want (1999) and Twelve More Songs (2002), which led to their major-label signing to Wreckway Records and the subsequent success of albums Hell Yeah (2004) and Hell Yeah: Part II (2005), both of which produced hit songs like "Love Song", "Rock Song", "Drugs Song", "Party Song", and "Sad Song". Soon after, the band's success resulted in a four year break up between the members in 2006, and it wasn't until 2010 that they got back together and released their 2011 album Hell Yeah: Part III. This only continued their increasing popularity in the music industry. History Formation & debut album (1999-2001) At the age of ten/eleven, in the summer of 1999, singer-songwriter/guitarist Stephen DeHolles (born June 21, 1989), bassist Tyler Johnson (born September 1, 1988), and drummer Richard White (born November 13, 1988) formed the band Call It a Tragedy. They self-released their debut album, Call It What You Want, November 20, 1999, and began promoting it throughout the remainder of 1999 and throughout 2000, recognized as a punk rock-kid band. ''Twelve More Songs'' (2001-2003) In fall 2001, starting seventh grade, the members decided it was time to write new material for a second album, and so they were able to sign with independent label HolyCheeseBurg Records. The album, Twelve More Songs was produced through the former half of 2002, and released on June 1, 2002. This achieved them underground success and resulted in a state-wide tour through Florida that lasted through 2002 and 2003. ''Hell Yeah'' & mainstream success (2003-2005) In mid 2003, shortly before production of their third studio album was to begin, they were noticed by Jonathan Wreckway, owner of Wreckway Records, who, enjoying their new pop punk style, quickly signed them to Wreckway Records. Production was slow, reportedly spanning from July 2003 through December 2003. Titled Hell Yeah, the album was released May 10, 2004, and produced the hit singles "Love Song", "Rock Song", and "Dance Song", all of which peaked within the Top 20 of the Hot 100 but did not break the Top 10; still, all three managed Platinum certifications by the RIAA. This success led them to participate in a tour spanning several countries, officially named the Call It a....World Tour!!, which, also becoming their reason for dropping out of high school senior year, lasted from May 24, 2004 (two weeks after the album was released)through April 11, 2005, through four countries (U.S., Canada, Britain, and Australia). They decided to take a one month break before beginning work on a fourth studio album. ''Hell Yeah: Part II'' (2005-2006) As promised, the band began work on their fourth album. Production (writing/recording) spanned from March-May 2005, a relatively quick process. The album, titled Hell Yeah: Part II was released June 1, 2005, and had a similar sound to the band's previous album, Hell Yeah, and performed as well, too, becoming their first debut at #1 on the Billboard 200 (Hell Yeah peaked at #2), and sold equally as many records as the previous album, approximately 4,000,000. The main difference was the success of the singles, "Party Song" and "Wherever You Want", which peaked at #6 and #11, respectively, and the Top 25 hit "Sad Song" which peaked at #25. The band, due to the immense success of both albums, went on a second, bigger world tour, titled: Call It a....Nuthuh World Tour!!, which, this one being even longer, spanned for almost a year, from June 22, 2005-April 30, 2006. Indefinite hiatus (2006-2010) After this tour, Call It a Tragedy was extremely exhausted from all the touring.. However, instead of taking a break, as recommended by their label, the band immediately began work on their fifth album, stating they were "on a roll"; the album was to be titled Hell Yeah: Part III, and to be released July 2006, to be completed in just under two months. However, about half-way through the writing process, feuds from within the band resulted in slow production and the album was repeatedly pushed back, first one month to August and two months more to October 2006. After much speculation going on over the passed month, it was finally announced in late May 2006 that the band had officially split up and had no plans of getting back together anytime soon. About half a year later, the record label, with the band's permission, on January 17, 2007, released a Greatest Hits! album, Call It a Tragedy: The Hits! which contained all of their previous singles; they also included two of the recorded tracks from the original fifth album, titled "Just How It Is" and "Holiday Song". These two songs were released as singles through late 2006 and early 2007, and were pretty successful, with "Holiday Song" peaking at #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 and "Just How It Is" at #21. However, this wasn't enough to convince the band to get back together, which was the record label's (and their fans') hope. Through the remainder of 2006, vocalist/guitarist Stephen DeHolles toured from the success of his June 2006 album DeHolles, which he had recorded partially from previously written material and from a few new songs as well. This resulted in DeHolles' 2009 follow up, A Toast to This, which continued his success as a solo artist. Meanwhile, bassist Tyler Johnson went home to his girlfriend of three years, having not spend as much time with her as he'd like to have in throughout the majority of their relationship; drummer Richard White joined about ten to fifteen bands over the course of the hiatus and was dissatisfied with all of them. Reformation & Hell Yeah: Part III (2010-present) Largely due to fan letters begging Call It a Tragedy to "forget the past and make up" through virtually the whole time of their hiatus, the members of the band decided to give reforming a shot and attempt the fifth album again. Them getting back together was publically announced in April 2010 With the album's production planned to be through the summer of 2010, they originally had intended to go a different direction with their music, feeling they had all been changed by the hiatus, but after some talking and writing, they decided to stick with their previous sound and keep the album's title Hell Yeah: Part III. Recording was done through fall, and the first single was released November 15, 2010, titled "Your Song", and has peaked at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100, their most successful song at the time. The song, was, however, largely due to extensive advertising and media coverage regarding Call It a Tragedy's return as a band. The album, Hell Yeah: Part III was released March 21, 2011, three weeks after the release of the album's second single, "Sex Song", released March 7, 2011, which was arguably their most crude and immature song to date, debuted at #1 on the Hot 100, becoming their first #1 hit single in the US. This resulted in the album debuting at #1 and selling 425,000 copies in its first week, a new high for Call It a Tragedy. Future Call It a Tragedy has plans to release another "Hell Yeah" related album, possibly before the end of 2012, before moving on to a "new generation" of material. Reception Call It a Tragedy's success has been largely met with negative reviews to mainstream music critics, largely because of the band's "immature, degrading" style, and their promotion of materialism, casual sex, and tendency to look down upon women. In an album review for Hell Yeah: Part III, Johnny Cockducker had this to say: "While I must admit I was astouded for the longest time that Call It a Tragedy had lasted so long, with hit after hit after hit, that I actually expect them to last a hell of a lot longer, too, in the mainstream market, and what amazes me is that they've been around for over 5 years and their, just, what, in their early twenties? Most artists who make it into the mainstream don't until their thirties or so. Their success has been so powerful that it has been influential to many new artists, as their new pop punk sound, which blends hip hop elements with punk rock elements, has begun to dominate the charts thanks to this influence upon these new artists. Still though, I can't tell you how much I hate them It a Tragedy." Despite the negative critical reception, throughout Call It a Tragedy's history, they have garnered hundreds of thousands of fans and are arguably considered the most successful band of their time, due to the waning popularity of rock music and their ability to produce multiple mainstream hits, unlike many other rock bands of the 21st century. Discography *''Call It What You Want'' (1999) *''Twelve More Songs'' (2002) *''Hell Yeah'' (2004) *''Hell Yeah: Part II'' (2005) *''Hell Yeah: Part III'' (2011) Compilations *''Call It a Tragedy: The Hits!'' (2007)